Aiming for 100% coverage with super-fast broadband by next general election in 2020
Authorities in the United Kingdom are looking to deliver broadband access to what it calls the final 5% of the population who live in areas so remote or rural they do not yet have access to broadband.
According to the BBC, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that it will cost roughly $800 million to guarantee broadband access to 100% of UK homes. In order to fund such an endeavor, the government is reportedly examining the possibility of imposing a levy on Internet-related industry.
The levy would be an update to the previous 50 pence (about 75 cents) phone levy that has previously been used by the UK to fund telecom infrastructure development. If such a tax were imposed, it could add as much as 1 pound ($1.57 based on current exchange rates) a month to all Internet bills across the country.
In addition to ensuring connectivity to the most remote areas of the UK, the government is looking to guarantee that 100% of Internet users will have super-fast connections. Super-fast is defined as the equivalent of 24 Mbps.
The UK’s Tory-led government, which was returned in the last election with an increased majority, has made expanding access to the Internet a central part of its mandate. The government committed itself to providing 95% connectivity by 2017, with the hopes that 100% connectivity could be achieved before the next general election in 2020.
The UK is not unique in funding costly broadband infrastructure build out through industry taxation. In the United States there is ongoing debate whether to expand the Universal Service Program, a program aimed at providing phone access to all Americans and funded by industry taxation, to included broadband.
The UK’s levy has not been well received by interest groups or trade associations. The UK’s Internet provider association ISPA said in a statement on the move, “Government would be better off focusing efforts on encouraging investment and competition.”
